West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-10-07
ExILEs IN SIBERIA.


The Pardoning Power-Escapc Almost
observation-disclosures Inquiries.
was informed by number of the
government officials in Siberia that the
exiles We're not sentenced for life, but for
five years each. Just before the expira-
ton of his term of absence a report upon
his condition is sent to the pardoning
power. If that report is favorable the
prisoner is permitted to return to Russia,
but if, en- the contrary, the Ispravnik re-
ports that his frame of mind is not such
as to make him at present safe mem
Der of the community, the poor wretch
is doomed to another five years term and
usually is sent still further away into the
wilderness.
In all the Siberian towns found exileS
who had been in the country for various
periods and not infrequently those whose
terms had expired, but who still dwelt
there, as during their long absence from
Russia their homes had been broken up,
their people scattered and nothing re-
manned of sufficient attraction to win
them from the rough lives TO which they
had become accustomed. In the large
towns and cities, such as Yakoutsk,
Irkoutsk, Tonlsk, Krasnoryarsk, Tobolsk
and Toumein, many of the larger stores
and hotels are kept by exiles or ex-exiles,
and many have become valuable citizens
Of that still undeveloped country. Those
who are assigned to Oriental Siberia ar
rive in Irkoutsk, the capital, and from
there are distributed TO the more distant
points. Some are sent to the northern
and eastern towns, where they are per-
mitted to do about as they please, to en-
gage in business or in hunting and fish
ing, but are not allowed to leave the
districts. Others are sent to the mines
of the southeast and to the island of
Saghalien.
Escape is almost impossible, for every
person in the district is responsible for
the custody Of the prisoners. No one can
travel anywhere without road pass,
which states where and how he is going,
and, if 10 return, when. Any individual,
even the natives, can ask you for your
road pass, and if not satisfied, can cause
your arrest. Should prisoner escape, a
heavy tax is put upon the entire district,
and that secures attention to their duty.
And yet the hope of escape is ever pres
ent as long as youth and vigor last, but
finally the habit of life and of association
become so strong that few would care to
return to a country from which their
home had disappeared even if released,
and much less make an effort to escape.
found myself an object of much interest
to the exiles wherever l met them, and
they invariably piled me with. questions
concerning my journey from America
through the land of the Tchouktchis. /
soon saw that in my case there was add
ed TO the natural interest in seeing some
one who was not one of their jailers the
deeper interest of talking to one who had
travelled alone from point but forty
miles from the ''home of the free, and
they reasoned that if he had come that
way, depending upon the country for
subsistence, why could they not go to
America in the same way? Then, too, l
was an American, and they believed that
to DO an American was to be Nlhilist.
They were astonished beyond measure
when told that the only Nihilists and
Anarchists in America were foreigners.
Col. w. II. Glider in New York World.